Overview

• The Home Affairs Committee report concluded that claims of 'two-tier policing' during the riots were baseless and undermined the efforts of officers facing significant violence.
• Police actions were deemed appropriate given the severity of the unrest, which included assaults on officers, arson, and targeted attacks on mosques and asylum-seeker housing.
• The report highlighted how outdated contempt laws and media protocols created an information vacuum, allowing misinformation about the attacker to spread widely.
• MPs urged reforms, including updates to contempt laws and media guidelines, to better equip law enforcement for crises in the social media age.
• The riots led to over 1,800 arrests, 1,072 charges, and significant injuries among police officers, with damages exceeding £28 million.